Devilfire - Dark Manoeuvres As much as these guys grabbed me with their intros, I found that once the first verse was up I wasn’t so hot on the track. They sure have some great elements and turbo driven riffs that amp up the quality on these songs, but at thirteen songs long I wish that these guys had cut down a little and really amped up the songs left which may have done better to keep me hooked. However despite my gripes, these guys have a great, consistent sense of movement and the vocals were a fantastic fit for the overall sound. For fans of hard rock with a safe sound that doesn’t pop any fast ones on you - this is for you. Overall I would give this a 6 out of 10 for the vocals and consistency, however I would’ve hoped to see a more grabbing track as a whole rather than just the intro and the first minute or so. LD
Klogr - Keystone Clocking in at twelve tracks long, I can certainly appreciate the technical high points of this album. This is a very clean cut and well put together piece, especially on tracks like ‘Dark Tides’ which moves with a dark progression and offers your daily dose of heavy. ‘The Wall of Illusion’ gives a great taste of the innovation these guys took to the tracks through an intro that slides perfectly into the following verses despite its earthly nature, and a downbeat progression through the finishing of the guitar solo. Wrapping up strong the song finishes with a blistering outro, growls and a drop into a cricket ending completing the listen. Personally, this album reminded me of my Slipknot days in some elements and for that I commend these guys as that’s a big name to look up to even if it is only a slight reminding. I think that for our fans of heavy set, relentless music that won’t take a break, this album is absolutely worth a listen, so give it a shot. LD
Circa Survive - The Amulet I found this album to be quite an interesting piece; a plethora of sounds and a perfect listen for October as I found the overall tone quite chilling. A good chillingI promise. ‘Lustration’ had quite the qualities of an opener for this ten track album. I quite liked the downbeat of the track, that took its time to develop tension in the five minutes and thirty three seconds it was given. Especially through the intro we get a lofty, airy, vocal style that follows through the rest of the track even as the drum lines subtly pick up to introduce an understated way to build progression, and simplify to give light to the vocal style. ‘At Night It Gets Worse’ turns to a more consistently steady rhythm that plays on a similar vocal style however enjoys a more waking tempo. At five minutes and fifty four seconds, this track takes the cake as the climax of the album in the number 5 spot. I really appreciate how these guys can incorporate nods to heavier genres, and indie genres, even some subtle touches of earthly singer song writer. ‘The Amulet’ as the title track drops back to a more downbeat tempo, with a remedial tonal blend. Lyrics play a huge role for all of these tracks, with thought provoking content that speaks to the content of the instruments as well because while it appears on the surface to feel simple and wholesome there is a lot of complexity there, but you have to able to appreciate that. Overall I would rate this an 9 out of 10. I am definitely going to listen to this again, as I loved the intricate and woven nature of all of these tracks. I was definitely stoked to have heard something so complex and earthly.
LD